America Needs 1.7 Million New Skilled Tradespeople a Year. Can We Find Them?

A new report projects about 1.7 million skilled trades openings every year through 2035.

Those openings come from both growth and retiring workers who need replacing.

Who's behind the numbers

The Alliance for America's Skilled Trades, formed this summer by BlackRock, Carhartt, Ford and Google, released the findings.

The study looked at 124 skilled trades occupations in all 50 states.

The big takeaways

• Training programs produce just 55 workers for every 100 needed.
• Close to 70% of the occupations should add jobs or hold steady over the next decade.
• That works out to 86 of the 124 occupations.

Where demand is outrunning supply

Nine states have more demand for skilled workers than they can currently supply.

They are Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

It's not just about recruiting

Maria Flynn, CEO of the nonprofit Jobs for the Future, which helped develop the report, says getting more people to enter the trades is only part of the challenge.

She points out that the trouble starts with recruitment but continues into training programs that often don't adequately support new workers.

The apprenticeship drop-off

Fewer than half of apprenticeship starters finish their program, according to Flynn.

She adds that only about 29 out of every 100 starters are working in a trade within five years.

Interest is there, direction isn't

The report says people are interested in the skilled trades but may not know where to start.

Flynn also stresses that employers play a big role in developing skilled workers.

A tool to explore your state

The Alliance also launched America's Skilled Trades Dashboard, an interactive, searchable tool.

It covers 124 occupations across all 50 states, with more than 5,000 state- and trade-specific profiles.

References

1. CNBC Make It, 1.7 million skilled trade jobs to open annually through 2035, report says (the article you linked, which I couldn't open). Published October 2, 2026 (date taken from the URL). https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/2026/10/02/1point7-million-skilled-trade-jobs-to-open-annually-through-2035-report-says.html
2. DBusiness, Report: U.S. Will Need to Fill 1.7M Skilled Trades Jobs Annually Through 2035. Date not shown in the retrieved text. https://www.dbusiness.com/daily-news/report-u-s-will-need-to-fill-1-7m-skilled-trades-jobs-annually-through-2035/
3. NewsChannel 9, America's skilled labor gap: 1.7M job openings yearly to meet growing demand, report says. Date not shown in the retrieved text. https://newschannel9.com/news/nation-world/americas-skilled-labor-gap-17-million-needed-yearly-to-meet-growing-demand-report-says
4. Alliance for America's Skilled Trades, The State of America's Skilled Trades: A National Report. https://www.jff.org/idea/the-state-of-americas-skilled-trades/

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